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Opener of the Way
pic2641317.jpg|Opener of the Way faction Opener of the Way Front.jpg|Opener of the Way faction card front Opener of the Way Spellbooks.jpg|Opener of the Way spellbooks Opener of the Way Back.jpg|Opener of the Way faction card back Opener Box art.jpg|Yog-Sothoth Faction Ability The Beyond One (Action: Cost 1): Select your unit with a Cost of 3+ in an Area with a Gate, but lacking an enemy Great Old One. Move your Unit to any Area on the map lacking a Gate. In doing so, your Unit takes the Gate with him, plus any controlling unit. Setup 6 Acolytes in a Controlled Gate, in any Area that does not already have a Gate, picked after all other Factions have set up. Cultist Acolyte: Count 6, Cost 1, Combat 0 Monster Mutant: Count 4, Cost 2, Combat 1 Abomination: Count 3, Cost 3, Combat 2 Spawn of Yog-Sothoth: Count 2, Cost 4, Combat 3 Great Old One Yog-Sothoth: Cost 6, Combat "Equals twice the number of enemy-controlled Faction Great Old Ones in play." How to Awaken Yog-Sothoth: # You must have a Spawn of Yog-Sothoth on the map. # Pay 6 Power. Replace the Spawn with Yog-Sothoth. The Key and the Gate (Ongoing): Yog-Sothoth counts as a Gate for every purpose, except for The Beyond One ability (Also he is not Controlled by a Cultist, and can exist in the same Area as another Gate). Spellbook Requirements * 8 Gates exist on the map * 12 Gates exist on the map* * You have units in at least 2 Areas containing enemy-controlled Gates * Lose 1 of your own Units in Battle * Your Great Old One is in the same Area with an enemy Great Old One * Awaken Yog-Sothoth *(In a 2-3 player game, only 10 Gates need to be on the Map) Spellbooks * Dread Curse of Azathoth (Action. Cost 2): Select an Area and roll 1 Combat die per Abomination and Spawn of Yog-Sothoth in play. Apply the die results as Kills and Pains to enemy Factions in the Area (you choose which Faction receives which results). No Battle-type abilities apply. You choose to which Area(s) Units are Pained. * The Million Favored Ones (Post-Battle): After Pains and Kills are resolved, "promote" any or all surviving Acolytes to Mutants, Mutants to Abominations, and Abominations to Spawns of Yog-Sothoth. You can Promote a Spawn of Yog-Sothoth by transforming it into as many Mutants as are in your Pool. * They Break Through (Ongoing): You can Summon Monsters at Enemy Controlled and Abandoned Gates. You do not need to have any Units present in the Area. * Dragon Ascending (Once Only): Once during the game (at any time), set your Power to be equal to the current Power of one chosen enemy Faction. Flip this spellbook face-down after use to indicate you cannot use it again. * Dragon Descending (Once Only): Once during the game when you perform a Ritual of Annihilation, you receive twice the normal Doom points. Flip this spellbook face down after use to indicate you cannot use it again. * Channel Power (Battle): After rolling Combat dice, you may pay 1 Power to reroll all dice which "missed" (i.e., were not Kills or Pains). General Tips Elder Sign Acquisition - Opener of the Way is very likely to have the fewest elder signs in every game they are a part of. Their faction has no way to gain them apart from the standard 1 ES for your GOO when performing a Ritual of Annihilation. You must focus on Gate Control and an opportune moment to use Dragon Descending to win. If possible, look for neutral units to help you gain Elder Signs. Units like Quachil Uttaus, Dhole, Gla-aki and especially Tulzcha can help greatly. The Beyond One - This faction ability has huge potential to make your opponents life a nightmare (especially when combined with the They Break Through spellbook). Look for an opportunity to use this on a faction who has already summoned all of their low cost monsters. Once you relocate their gate, they now have to make a tough decision: * They give you the gate, costing them 3 power (1 for cultist, 2 for gate) * They summon a monster to defend ** If they summon a high cost / high combat Monster, simply use TBO again, stranding that unit alone with only regret as company. ** If they summon a low cost / low combat Monster, you can chance a battle to promote your Abomination to a Spawn, or better yet, your Spawn to several Mutants. (keeping in mind any problematic battle abilities the smaller units may have, such as a Night Gaunt's Abduct spellbook). It is a loosing battle to try and defend against The Beyond One. If you find yourself on the opposite side of this ability, weigh your options carefully. There may be no good options to deal with it at the time. Try to outlast them in the action phase, since Opener is a power hungry faction. This ability also has great defensive value. If Cthulhu brings a massive army to take your gate, simply move it! Awakening Yog-Sothoth - Many players are tempted to start with a mutant, and do everything they can to upgrade it via Million Favored Ones to a Spawn of Yog Sothoth, THEN use that spawn to awaken their Great Old One. This can be a very costly, unpredictable, and time consuming endeavor (but sometimes you do get lucky vs an aggressive opponent!). Don't hesitate to summon a Spawn of Yog Sothoth for full power cost in preparation for awakening Yog. Movement - Moving your army is expensive. If you are attacking a gate, consider moving a smaller army into the area, then using The Break Through to summon reinforcements directly to the battle area. For example, summoning a mutant at your gate in preparation for an assault in an adjacent area wastes 1 power for movement. It is also likely that you will rarely have to spend power to move your units if you properly utilize They Break Through and The Beyond One. Why go to a gate when you can bring the gate to you? Spellbook Strategies * Dread Curse of Azathoth - Although this spellbook takes a while to set up for maximum potential, it can be a great way to kill targets from a safe distance. When you are able to use this spellbook effectively, leaving a Great Old One alone with minimal defense becomes very risky for your opponents. If you are on good terms with the Crawling Chaos faction, have them pain Great Old Ones to areas by themselves with their Madness spellbook. Then destroy them with the Dread Curse of Azathoth. Black Goat can also assist with Necrophagy. * The Million Favored Ones - This spellbook can make Opener of the Way one of the most difficult factions to combat. Unless the enemy is using overwhelming forces, chances are several of your units will survive and upgrade to a more powerful version. Be careful not to make upgrading your units your primary goal. Many times it costs just as much power to move and attack with your units as it saves in summoning costs, with the risk of actually loosing your units! This is a great defensive spellbook, and a good bonus to your offense. * They Break Through - In the early game, this spellbook can really put a wrench in your opponents plans. When you summon a monster to their gate, they will likely be forced to abandon their previous plans to address the new threat, especially if an abomination is brought through (able to take the gate away with The Beyond One). Consider using this when an opponent moves to take one of your gates, forcing them to choose (and potentially waste power) between assaulting your gate or defending their own. * Dragon Ascending - This is a fantastic spellbook to use after summoning Yog Sothoth. Try to perform a ritual the round before and get as close to 0 power as you can in your first action. Then get back into the action with Dragon Ascending. * Dragon Descending - Your most important spellbook, and the trickiest to use. Do your best to end a round with 5 gates to gain a massive 15 doom point boost with your ritual. Be careful, however, as many players will be very threatened by this sudden surge of doom points. Often times you will be quite a ways behind in Elder Signs, make sure to remind threatened players of your lack of Elder Signs and the potential Doom Track position of your opponents (who have many Elder Signs). * Channel Power - A great offensive boost. Spending a single power can likely land another kill or two depending on how many dice you roll, costing your opponent several times more in damages. Very powerful when you need just one more kill to take out an enemy Great Old One. Opening Strategies Category:Faction